Cuba in the News
Archive for 6/02

Castro's words are serious threat, experts say 6/29/02 Miami Herald: Among the incidents and activities Castro cited to justify his rhetoric:
• The U.N. censure of Cuba for human rights violations.
• Public accusations by U.S. officials that Cuba is involved in biological weapons research.
• Speeches by President Bush in both Washington and Miami on May 20, vowing to maintain the trade embargo until democratic elections are held on the island.
• The State Department's continued inclusion of Cuba as a state that sponsors terrorism.
• A June 1 commencement address by Bush that centered around preemptive strikes as part of a new U.S. doctrine for the fight against terrorism."

Castro threatens to reduce U.S. ties 6/27/02 Miami Herald: The Herald up to its usual 'spin.' Here is what Fidel said, as quoted in Granma - "Fidel emphasized that it would be the responsibility of the U.S. government if insistence on such practices leads to the revocation of the migratory agreements or even the withdrawal of its Interest Section in Havana. "That is not something that we want, as it would signify a lamentable setback in one of the few areas where advances have been made in relations between the two countries."

JUSTICE AND TERRORISM By Francisco Aruca 6/27/02 Radio Progresso: "A Cuban-American lawyer, Raoul Cantero, engaged in the political defense of a Cuban terrorist – Orlando Bosch – whom the Department of Justice, on the basis of CIA and FBI reports, declared guilty of terrorist acts inside and outside the United States. That same lawyer, Raoul Cantero, 41, is one of five candidates from whom Gov. Jeb Bush will pick a nominee for the Florida Supreme Court."

TERRORIST CONNECTIONS RESURFACE IN FLORIDA 6/27/02 Radio Progresso, Miami: Jeb's choice is a long time serious supporter of narcoterrorist Orlando Bosch and Radio Progresso is playing a crucial role in bringing this to light - "Governor Jeb Bush is about to choose a Florida State Supreme Court judge. There are five finalists and his deadline is August 12. Since there is no Hispanic on the Court, most people expect Jeb Bush will want to name a Hispanic. There is only one Hispanic among the finalists. That one Hispanic is of course a Cuban- American. He is Raoul Cantero III, a corporate lawyer for a Miami firm, Adorno & Yoss. He is the only one of the five who is not a judge. Governor Jeb Bush might consider it more important for a Supreme Court judge to have Cantero's experience working for Hank Adorno, who had a long association with the family businesses of Jorge Mas Canosa and his son Jorge Mas Santos, late chair and current chair, respectively, of the Cuban American National Foundation, the wealthiest and most influential right-wing Cuban-American organization."

New Study Says Travel To Cuba Benefits U.S. Economy 6/25/02 CNS News: "The study, released Tuesday by the Cuba Policy Foundation, an anti-embargo group, found that 3,800 American jobs could be created in the first year after the embargo would be lifted. Within five years, 13,000 jobs could be had, along with over $1 billion in income, the study says.
"The ban on travel to Cuba is hurting the U.S. economy," said former Ambassador Sally Cowal, president of the Cuba Policy Foundation. "Ending restrictions on travel to Cuba and allowing U.S. carriers and tour operators to provide services for American travelers would provide a much needed source of growth to the U.S. travel sector, particularly the troubled airline industry."

Cuban warns of Posada Carriles’ possible escape 6/24/02 Granma: Posada was Felix Rodriguez #2 at Ilo Pango air force base in El Salvador, the source of much Coca Contra trafficking in the 80's. Felix is a long time CIA employee close to George Bush senior and the CIA rep in on the Che take down.

Senate to probe secret biological tests at old Boca airfield 6/24/02 Sun Sentinel: "The U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee will conduct an investigation into all U.S. military chemical and biological weapons testing programs, including a series of covert military tests in the 1950s performed just north of what is now Florida Atlantic University and involved wheat-killing chemicals designed to cripple Russian crops." But no one will discuss whether Boca was used to launch similarly conceived biowar attacks against Cuban agriculture on numerous occasions. See History of Biowar Against Cuba.

Lawyer in political hot seat 6/20/02 Miami Herald: Aruca hits his stride - "A Miami radio host is exhorting listeners to call Gov. Jeb Bush to complain about Raoul Cantero, one of five finalists for an open seat on the high court, because he once helped represent Orlando Bosch.
Bosch was held in a Venezuelan jail for 11 years on charges of masterminding the October 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed all 73 people on board.
Later acquitted, he arrived in Miami, where lawyers, including Cantero, eventually were able to secure his residency after he served time in federal prison. He left prison in 1990 and remains a controversial figure." The Herald didn't mention that narcoterrorist Bosch was at the recent dinner Dubya attended in Miami with the CANF.

Wayne Smith: Fidel Castro Is No Osama bin Laden 6/16/02 LA Times: very well reasoned articles refuting the charges made to keep Cuba on the terrorist list - "Finally, the State Department raises the issue of American fugitives
in Cuba. Yes, there are a number of them. But there is no evidence
that any are engaged in terrorist activities or any other activities
against the United States. Furthermore, there are Cuban fugitives in
the U.S., several of them terrorists with extensive FBI files. If
having fugitives from another country within your borders were
grounds for making the list of terrorist nations, the U.S. would have
to be on it as well."

Cuba Reorients Its Economy Away from Sugar 6/14/02 NY Transfer: "The following item was posted on the Sun-Sentinel website two days
running, on June 13 with the headline below, and again on the 14th
with no changes except a more ominous-sounding, and quite misleading,
headline, "Cuba's Sugar Mills Fall Silent," as if the ENTIRE Cuban
sugar industry has suddenly been shut down.
In fact, older and less productive mills are being closed; their
workers are being retrained, and meanwhile being reassinged to
hurricane-relief reconstruction. For a number of years now, Cuba has
been re-orienting some of its increasingly less profitable sugar
harvest to provide alternative energy, alternative fuels, paper, and
other products."

Anti-Castro Activist Gunned Down in Miami 6/12/02 CNS News: "Villaverde and his brother once ran the "Little Havana Activities Center." They were also indicted in the 1980s for allegedly running a multi-million dollar cocaine smuggling operation. But the charges were dropped because Miami Police had used illegal means to gather evidence in the case.
Federal agents raided Jorge Villaverde's home in 1995 but instead of drugs, they found guns." The article blames "Castro" but does not look at possible gang rivalries nor at the history of Miami Mafia squabbles.

Anti-Castro activist murdered 6/12/02 Miami Herald: more details on Jorge's criminal past: "In 1995, federal prosecutors charged him and a man living in his house with possession of a machine gun and possession of unregistered silencers."

Belize refuses to broadcast Radio Martí 6/11/02 Miami Herald: "Belize may be tiny, but it knows how to say ''no'' to Washington. Belize has rejected a U.S. proposal to convert a Voice of America relay station to beam U.S.-operated Radio Martí signals toward Cuba." Will Belize now be a new target?

CUBA: MASS ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO BUSH GOVT'S THREATS 6/10/02 Radio Havana: "Noting that a massive, simultaneous island-wide
mobilization in each and every municipality of the country has never
before been attempted, Fidel Castro called on local leaders in every
city and town across the island to organize the largest march ever
seen in the history of Cuba, to take place on Wednesday, June 12th."

IF THE POPE & JIMMY CARTER CAN GO TO CUBA, WHY CAN’T WE ALL? PLEASE SUPPORT MILWAUKEE’S ‘METHODIST THREE’ 6/9/02 Milwaukee Coalition: fines differentiated by race: "Three members of Milwaukee’s Central United Methodist Church (CUMC) are facing large fines for traveling to Cuba. In 1994 CUMC established an on-going sister church relationship with a Methodist Church in Havana, Cuba, called La Trinidad (the Trinity). La Trinidad sent a formal invitation to CUMC for us to send members to join in celebrating its 100th anniversary in January, 1999. CUMC commissioned six of our members to go, and they traveled to Cuba. They had a very positive and moving experience in Havana. On their return to the US, via Toronto, the fact that they had visited Cuba was made known to US customs & immigration agents, who told them this was illegal, asked questions and copied some of their identification and other papers. Now, over three years later, three of the six are targets of a “crackdown” by our own government: $7,500 fines have been “proposed” against each of the two African-American CUMC members who went to represent our church; $5,000 has been assessed against one other member, a white woman."

Bush Gang May Appoint Terrorist to Fla Supreme Ct 6/8/02 NY Transfer: in line with W. Bush's dining with CANF terrorists, including Orlando Bosch - "On June 8, 2002, The Miami Herald reported that Raoul G. Cantero III, grandson of former dictator Fulgencio Batista, is one of five men being considered by Jeb Bush as a Florida Supreme Court justice. One might think we should not judge him on the basis of his
grandfather's politics, but unfortunately there is more: Raoul
Cantero III was one of the lawyers for Orlando Bosch in 1989 when
there was a campaign to get Bosch, a terrorist even in the annals of
the FBI and CIA, released from jail. That campaign succeeded."

REMARKS BY DR. FIDEL CASTRO RUZ, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT A RALLY HELD IN GENERAL ANTONIO MACEO SQUARE, SANTIAGO DE CUBA, JUNE 8, 2002 6/8/02 Radio Havana: Fidel strikes true: "I don't think that a fascist regime can be established in the United States.
Serious mistakes have been made and injustices committed in the framework of
its political system--many of them still persist--but the American people
still have a number of institutions and traditions, as well as educational,
cultural and ethical values that would hardly allow that to happen. The risk
exists in the international arena.
The power and prerogatives of that country's President are so extensive, and
the economic, technological and military power network in that nation is so
pervasive that due to circumstances that fully escape the will of the
American people, the world is coming under the rule of Nazi concepts and
methods."

Bacardi buys Mexico's Cazadores tequila company 6/7/02 The News, Mexico: the Bacardis continue their expansion, based on the start they got thanks to Cuban slaves, of whom they owned many in the 19th century. The Bacardis were primarily responsible for Helms Burton.

Leader of the region’s ecological agriculture 6/6/02 Granma: "Integral blight management is employed on 10 essential crops. This method means that seeds are sown so that the plants’ life cycle takes place in the most suitable season to prevent blights, thus allowing the amount of preventative pesticides to be reduced for some plants.
Each year, more than 900,000 hectares — 30% of the land — are treated biologically, including sugar cane plantations. Over 2,500 tons of biopesticides are produced in 220 centers throughout the country."

Liberty under fire: travel ban violates U.S. Constitution 6/6/02 Granma: "In response, the Bush administration has stepped up its enforcement efforts. The Treasury Department reported 766 civil penalties to unlicensed travelers in 2001, while only 188 fines were imposed in the last year of the Clinton administration." Out of tens of thousands of illegal visitors.

U.S. Senate subcommittee destroys accusations against Cuba 6/6/02 Granma: "The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Latin America had summoned Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, the man responsible for the accusations, but he did not appear."

Israel’s Forgotten Enemy 6/6/02 National Review: some half truth and propaganda lining up Cuba with the dreaded Islamic terrorists. Guess the label "communist" does not guarantee enough ill treatment for the National Review, so now it's on to today's bugaboos.

Bush administration under fire for 'waffling' on Cuba policy 6/5/02 Nando Times: Rummy weighs in - "Administration sources said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, now traveling in Europe, was to reiterate U.S. views concerning Cuba and biological weapons during a Thursday speech before NATO allies.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld planned to raise the matter partly to erase the notion that Bolton was not speaking for the administration when he addressed the issue last month."

CUBA, UN STRIVE TO INCREASE ANIMAL PROTEIN INTAKE FOR CUBANS 6/3/02 Radio Havana: "At the Mampostón reservoir, southeast of the
Cuban capital, a research center supported by the United Nations
Development Program strives to increase the production of fresh water
fish -- despite fewer ocean catches and the general decline of
fisheries in the Caribbean Sea."

Castro assails Bush at rally 6/2/02 Boston Globe: "In a blistering speech before hundreds of thousands of people in a drenching rain yesterday, President Fidel Castro said the democracy President Bush wants to see in Cuba would be a corrupt and unfair system that ignores the poor." Kind of like Florida?

Cost of goods at Cuba's dollar stores to rise 6/1/02 Miami Herald: "Struggling with a financial crisis, Cuba's communist government announced major price increases Friday at the country's dollar stores, but promised the cost of basic foodstuffs and other essentials would remain the same or decline."